Unpopular Opinion: Why Batman vs Superman Is Going To Be A Major Let-Down

I love superheroes and villains alike! I'm also a big fan of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Gaming! Follow me on Twitter! @The_Simpsonian

There are two kinds of people in the world. The first kind is the group of people who neatly wind up their headphones and store them away safely after listening to music. The other kind is the group of people who take their headphones and just stuff them in their pockets. They can just worry about untangling them later right?

While this statement may seem a bit out of place seeing as the title promises talk of superheroes, the statement is very relevant in today's superhero-filled society. Those two types of people can easily be compared to the two titans of the comic-book movie industry. Of course, those two titans are Marvel and DC.

DC Has A Lot Of Catching Up To Do

Now let me first make one more simple statement. I am not taking sides in the Marvel and DC war that has raged in fan communities for decades. I think of that dispute the same as the Star Wars/Star Trek dispute. Why take sides? They are both amazing. It doesn't matter which one is better than the other. But whether you share my neutral mindset or not, you can't deny that these two titans are very different in a lot of different ways.

Marvel represents the first group of people I discussed. They are the kind of people who wind up and carefully store their headphones, as is evidenced by the way they have been making movies. They first began their cinematic universe in 2008 with the release of Iron Man. This lesser known hero became an international hit in no time, and people suddenly started keeping an eye on what Marvel had in store.

Of course we now know Marvel as the studio that brought us The Avengers: a monumental game-changer in the way we perceived superhero cinema, but they didn't spring Earth's mightiest heroes out of nowhere. They spent years introducing us to Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye through several movies before we finally got The Avengers in 2012.

Now DC, as Marvel's biggest contender in the superhero cinema industry, knew that they had to make a ground-breaking superhero film to rival Marvel's massive success. Luckily for them, they also had a popular superhero team that they could make money on with the silver screen. The ironic thing is that ten years ago, only comic fans knew about the Avengers. Yet just about everyone had heard of the Justice League.

DC had popularized the Justice League in popular animated series and various video games, which were able to reach a large audience who didn't necessarily read a lot of comics. The Justice League combined some of the most popular heroes that DC had to offer; i.e. Superman, Batman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, and so on and so forth.

A Golden Time For Heroes

Now that superhero teams have peaked in popularity, it makes sense that DC would want to re-popularize the Justice League by making their very own JL movies. In fact, the first Justice League movie is slated for 2017. At least, the first Justice League movie by title. In early 2016, we are going to be getting a Justice League movie that just happens to go by the name Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Now DC officially began their cinematic universe with their 2013 Superman flick Man of Steel, in which we were re-introduced to DC's flagship hero. While there is still a dispute today whether this was a good film or not, it still was a solid start to a new universe of iconic characters.

While Superman may be one of the oldest and iconic characters that DC has to offer, their most popular character of late is the caped crusader himself, Batman. After the successful Dark Knight trilogy, Batman hit massive highs among millions of movie-goers. So naturally introducing him alongside Superman would be a good move right?

Not quite what I meant by alongside...

I agree. Seeing Superman and Batman fight side-by-side in glorious live-action is something fans have wanted to see for a long time. DC is even taking things one step further by having Superman and Batman fight against each other, as enemies. This is certainly a fresh idea in superhero cinema that boosted the film's popularity big time. So with a film with this much potential, how could it possibly fail?

It's Too Crowded

As the title of the film suggests, it stars Superman and Batman as the lead characters. Lex Luthor, played by the amazing Jesse Eisenberg, is also in the film, though not as the main antagonist. This is actually a pretty good idea. As the heroes are fighting, sneak in a character who is brimming with villainous potential for later films.

But aside from Lex, we also have Wonder Woman making a significant appearance in the film, as we see that she has at least one fight scene in the trailer alone. While I was a little uneasy about the forced introduction of yet another major character, I see why DC has decided to make this move. While Marvel is preparing Captain Marvel, they have yet to give us a strong female superhero role-model (Black Widow doesn't count). So by giving us a taste of Wonder Woman before Marvel even has a casting choice for Captain Marvel, they are hoping to snag an entire demographic that has been waiting for a powerful female protagonist.

However, the film is called Batman v. Superman, so who is Wonder Woman fighting in the trailer? Surely taking sides would be... well... cheating. Well if recent news is to be believed, it seems like Wonder Woman is in glorious combat with none other than Doomsday, one of the most powerful and evil villains in the DC comics. This I'm not supportive of.

While the movie is based off of conflict between two heroes, why introduce a whole other hero just to fight another major villain? Why keep the movie titled Batman v. Superman when clearly there are more important impending dangers. Dawn of Justice alone is just fine.

Especially because even more heroes are said to have cameo appearances in the film. Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Ezra Miller's Flash are both supposed to make brief cameos, with talks of Cyborg also being tossed into the mix. Why not just call the movie Justice League: Origins or something? It seems like just about every member other than Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter are going to be in the film.

So Why Is This Many Characters Bad?

Remember what I said about the headphones? Well while Marvel has been neatly winding their headphones by carefully and slowly easing us into their characters and movies, DC is going the exact opposite. They are simply shoving their headphones into their pockets by throwing in so many characters, and there are sure to be tangles and knots that DC will have to work out afterwards.

DC is operating under the assumption that we know all about their characters beforehand. Sure we all know Superman and Batman, but why throwing in more obscure characters Aquaman and Doomsday, they are turning off viewers who don't necessarily read the comics. What Marvel did was introduce major characters one-by-one, so that we would get eased into the characters personalities, powers, and motives. With seven, count them, seven major characters being introduced to Batman v. Superman, non-comic fans are just going to leave the theaters confused.

It's Not A Fair Fight

I know comic fans are going to have much to say to the contrary, but Batman fighting Superman is nothing close to a fair fight. Batman can have all the gadgets and martial arts know-how that he wants, but an indestructible Kryptonian god-like figure with super-strength and laser-eyes is going to win.

Unless of course Batman ends up with kryptonite, Superman's one weakness. Even if he does come across the extra-terrestrial green element, that would give Superman an incredible disadvantage. Either way, there is no way these two will come neck-and-neck in this battle. Sure the movie might make it look like an even match, but come on. One of those two isn't going to be in the best shape in the end.

DC Has Their Work Cut Out For Them

Batman vs Superman is hitting theaters next March, several months before the next MCU film. Unfortunately, that one MCU film is going to be in direct competition with BvS. While DC is bringing us a movie about one major superhero fighting another major superhero, Marvel is looking to pass that up with Captain America: Civil War.

Civil War is doing more than pitting Cap against Iron Man. About a dozen different heroes are quite literally going to war against each other in an all-out confrontation that is going to shake the core of everything Marvel has built so far. If Batman vs Superman is going to try and come out on top, they better have something really special in store, or else Marvel is going to enjoy their throne for quite a while.

Whether you are a fan of Marvel or a fan of DC, it is undeniable at this point that Marvel definitely has the upper hand in the cinematic field. DC certainly has potential with upcoming films like Suicide Squad, but it doesn't look like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is the light at the end of DC's tunnel. If anything, it's a roadblock.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Stay close to your fandom and get the latest stories and updates about all things Movie Pilot.